The first trailer for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire has been unveiled and, true to it’s Oscar-season release date, exhibits a emotionally powerful film set to draw the attention of the Academy.
In the film, Gyllenhaal plays the black sheep of a snowy Pennsylvania-based family whose bad behavior has left him in jail for three years while Maguire plays the military man older brother done good with Portman as his wife and the mother of their two daughters. When Maguire’s character’s tour of duty in Afghanistan goes awry and he is presumed killed in action, Gyllenhaal’s character – who has just been released from prison – starts to encroach, seemingly to finally give back and support the family. Things are thrown into chaos, however, when Maguire unexpectedly returns.
We previously noted the strong Oscar pedigree of director Sheridan who is a six-time nominee; twice for Best Director, once for Best Picture and three times for Best Adapted or Original Screenplay; which will bode well for this project despite being scribed by David Benioff, recently of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” infamy.
Further, the film is a remake of the excellent, award-winning 2004 Danish film by Susanna Bier, was previously set for an August release before being shifted to Oscar-season – evidence of studio confidence – and had reportedly tested strongly for its originally planned December 2008 release before post-production presumably delayed the release. All signs point to good things.
“Brothers” is due out December 4th and is also set to feature music written by U2 especially for it. The trailer features U2’s “Bad” from the Unforgettable Fire in the second half and some terrible modern-rock fromage-rock song in the first half. Lighthouse? Close and equally bad, it’s The Fray, “Never Say Never (Don’t Let Me Go).” Everyone comes to us for these kinds of answers and we get that, but you can’t pay us to listen to that kind of music. “Brothers” is due in theaters on December 4.
what is this, pearl harbor part 2?
It's The Fray "Never Say Never (Don't Let Me Go)." Why do I know that??
I didn't expect the Pearl Harbor vibe either. It still looks strong though. I have to admit I was rather tickled by the prospect of Maguire and Gyllenhaal playing brothers due to the interchangeability of the actors. But Gyllenhaal seems to have lost his boyish charm, which may fit the movie better, but isn't nearly as funny.
Not really catching the PH vibe aside from the cheesy song in the beginning. i think it's just superficial similarities in plot, but i'm sure the style is totally different.
I don't like Gyllenhaal much, but i think he looks really good in this. The second half of the trailer is great. Tobey M seems like he might be playing it too wild, which jives with all the test screening reviews and comments that found him to be the weakest thing about the film.
I *think* cutting around him might have been one of the delays or just trying to finesse the cutting around his performance.
There's a regular here, who knows more and might chime in.
Thanks for the post Rodrigo! My question to you is: would you push folks to see Brødre beforehand or after the fact?
At this point, I'd say after.
I would definitely wait to watch the Danish version until after this as it will spoil the entire film for you.
I actually think that this is the potential danger for this film, being too much like the original. I think critics will make the inevitable comparisons be it fair or not.
I remember my guy once told me that the script was the weakest part of the film and having read the Benioff version I can definitely see that. Asides from various emphasis changes, which I also get from the trailer (since I know where every scene fits in the movie having watched the original and read the script), the changes are subtle and might be overlooked leaving the film open to criticism of unoriginality.
That being said, I think this might have some award potential especially in a weak Oscar year (which I expect this year to be). I don't see Best Pic or anything, but if the acting is good then maybe that'll get some love. It doesn't hurt that Mike DeLuca seems to be making some sort of Hollywood comeback and Relativity/Lionsgate seem to be putting many of their eggs in this one basket.
Put me down as cautiously optimistic.
My main quibble with the trailer itself is that it essentially gives away the whole movie.
I don't see the "Pearl Harbor" thing at all. I've read the comparison made three times today (maybe by the same person), but I don't get how the two films are even remotely connected. After all, this film follows the original very closely, was the original the Danish version of Pearl Harbor? If so, I had never heard that until today despite the film coming out four years ago.
The Pearl Harbor thing… uh, tells you all you need to know about the level of insight of the viewer frankly.
I think one or two people on the internets may have developed Michael Bay fever over the past week or so…
I wonder why.
Anonymous,
You are aware that this film is an adaptation of a Danish film right?
I saw the Pearl Harbor comparison made on imdb today as well. The person who made it was named Ray2008. So it may have come from the same person as the one above. LOL.
No, I don't post on IMDB. 🙂 I wasn't the one who labeled it as "Pearl Harbor" like, but I understood what the first poster meant by it. It is just superficial plotpoint, but watching the trailer, I just found myself dreading the reappearance of the lover that "died" in the war. Coincidentally, Netflix sent out the original movie to me today.
Well, after that trailer, I have now fully seen the core idea of this film acted out twice.
that was one of the worst edited trailers ever. still looking forward to it, ive been hearing good buzz about Maguires performance. someone wrote it might be oscar worthy.
That was a little too sharp of a change in tone for me in that trailer–almost like a horror trailer. But it still looks pretty good. And to all of those drawing comparisons to Pearl Harbor….that tells me you all have WAY too much of a vested interest in that movie. Why do people even remember that piece of crap?!
This movie looks great. It's always nice seeing Tobey do more serious films. On another note, I always thought Tobey and Jake looked like brothers, perfect casting choice.
AHAHAHA. This looks aggressively terrible. Every cliche in the goddamn book. And why is every other word in the first half of the trailer "Dad" or "dead"?
"Dad's dead. What if you were dead? Does he know about dad? He's dead. He knows Dad's dead!"
And the trailer…oy vey. BOOM (cut) BOOM (cut) BOOM (cut). Not to mention Tobey Maguire drawing upon his evil Peter Parker! Maybe his character will do a swing dance to the Fray song so we know he's gone crazy?!!
Looks exactly like the original minus the handheld camera work. Yes, the trailer is terrible (par the course for trailers these days) and yes, it gives away the entire film.
This looks great. I'm really looking forward to this.
I'm trying to think of a way to say this without sounding like an idiotic republican cannidate or country music superstar because I'm pro Obama/ pro Troops / etc.
So here goes :
I'm tired of these horrible, extremely cliche left wing films that depict troops as lower class rural white dudes who just got the shit kicked out of them right as they came home.
This looks like the same story as The Lucky Ones or Stop Loss or Home of the Brave.
Hurt Locker got it right. We need more Hurt Lockers and fewer 'oh crap a soldier came home and everyone shit on his life so now he goes crazy'.
And yes, this is a horrible concept. Who in the right mind would start porking the widow of their brother who died a brutal death? I don't even care if they 'fell in love'… there's no justifyling people doing that in a two hour story. Everyone becomes villain in the movie. Which makes it a downer movie. Which means it was a waste of 35mm.
Yes this war sucks. We know that. Even dumbass republicans probably know that. But another story about PTWS in a war with far more interesting stories that that is insane.
Jesus…
I'm pretty positive that the writer above me hasn't watched the original film at all.
First, this movie is about Afghanistan not Iraq. Even most libbies support what's going on in Afghanistan.
Second, this is a remake of a Danish film called Brodre.
Third, most people who join the military ARE from rural parts of the country. The person who does so here (Tobey) is not a rube or an ignoramous or anything like that, he's an all-American type who is captured and forced to do something horrible and completely out-of-character for him which he has a tough time reconciling with. This is why he develops post-traumatic stress. The "bad" guys in this movie aren't the US Army or the ones "who sent him there" or anything like that, if anything it's the Taliban.
Fourth, this isn't an anti-war film at all. It's about TWO BROTHERS (hence the title) who are polar opposites in every way. One brother is bad and the other is good. It's about how, over the course of the film, their roles change and eventually flip.
Honestly, conservatives really have to stop looking for boogeymen everywhere, it's kind of sad. You guys are worse than Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson when it comes to this victimization trip you're on.
One more thing, the horrible thing Tobey is forced to do comes as a result of being captured by the Taliban, not because of any orders he is given by his superior officers.
Agreed there. I think poster "Pearl Harbour"'s fears are somewhat warranted, but based in inaccuracies. Maguire's character loses it and develops genuine post-traumatic stress syndrome. It's a totally natural breakdown in the story- whether the performers or script can carry it out is another matter.
I think having the brother explicitly fall for the wife goes a bit far- in the original, the "bad" brother (I dislike that distinction, btw) does resist what seems like obvious temptation (the original wife is Connie Nielsen- hello!). I think they dance around it, but I don't remember any actual consummation.
That being said, the idea of a soldier returning to a home that doesn't welcome him is an interesting story strand/theme that's much older that the conflict in the Middle East. I don't think that's a bipartisan story concept, I think it's ripe, and every generation has those share of stories, involving war or not. I think "The Lucky Ones" and "Stop/Loss" were very sympathetic and respectful to those characters as well.
As for the constant depiction of "rural white people" at war, I think that's a somewhat relevant complaint. I want to see more stories about privileged people who go off to war and see how they respond. But the truth is, a lot of people enter the armed forces because they have few options, due to receiving a weak education and having little funds to entertain other learning experiences. These people live in rural areas. It's certainly not a surprise.
Anyway, I don't think there's anything "left wing" about this concept, but at the same time, it does reek of familiarity.
I've written about the war multiple times for various publications. The real story of this war and the soldiers out there involves the kids who signed up for the college plan at 19 and will be close to 28 when they get back and 32 when they get out of college with a degree. Many of them, at the point, simply don't go and a get a job or stay in the army.
Most of them who signed up had little to no idea that there would be a war and thought it would be a situation where they'd spend a few weekends going to camps and exercising.
They left with long distance friends and come back seeing those friends liberal and with two kids and a ho-hum job. Unlike Vietnam, we're in a war that very few people acknowledge. So when a troop comes home they are usually in the presence of a mother/father family situation.
Remember, there are many people who aren't riding Hummers through the desert looking for something to shoot at (which is how we remember the first persian gulf). It's a technology based war war filled with engineers, computer techs, pilots, and lots and lots of waiting.
This movie looks like an age old tale with the setting becoming the Iraq / Afghanistan war. It'll probably be told 10 years from now in a movie about some other war that is going on.
From a simple movie goer perspective, this will feel like a cringefest since everyone knows the twist (assuming everyone who sees the movie has watched the trailer).
Guys, it's just the trailer. There are tons of shitty trailers, in fact I'd say a good 75% are generally crap. Relax.
I agree with Hackett that the trailer spoils the twist in the film and many may be setting up its audience for a major let down once they watch the film.
The trailer should have hyped up the brotherly aspect of the story rather than present a summary of what the film is all about.
The trailer should have had more Transformers.
Also, yes it does look like it follows Broders to a T, but if you wanna see a worse trailer see Inglourious Basterds, which reveals every little interesting thing about that semi-interesting movie. Every mildly exciting moment is in that trailer which doesn't leave a lot left for audiences.
I get that it's just a trailer. I'm not even over-reacting from a movie-goer standpoint but I work in Hollywood and know that trailers / intelligent marketing can make or break a film.
Look at District 9 or Cloverfield or even Juno/Little Miss Sunshine. Lots of people give up a year of their lives for the production / post production of a film and it can easily be brushed off as a rental if some idiots cut the trailer. Also, give major respect to the likes of Judd Apatow , who rarely uses scenes within the movie to create his own trailer because he knows how important that experience of seeing something for the first time is.
Basterds is another sad case of a Weinstein film going very, very wrong. There are two types of people : those who try to fool the audience and those that think their audience is full of fools. The first type are a rare breed these days.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, wow! what a combination! they are my most admired actors..hope they'll be suitable together in a drama movie..